I have been sitting with the incredible experience of your gift and knowledge and letting it sift down into my understanding and psyche. It was a powerful time for me. I told a friend, "she is the real deal." I don't say that very often!
--Diana S.New York

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Read yesterday’s forecast for thoughts on the ingress of the Sun and Venus into Scorpio today. Whatever sense of listlessness or restlessness you may be feeling comes courtesy of Moon in Libra, now at the end of its cycle. It’s about to be born anew in Scorpio at 5:57PM ET, along with a partial solar eclipse, which you’ll be able to observe in North America. Here’s the 411 on how to safely watch this celestial event.

The New Moon offers us an opportunity to re-set intentions and goals for the next lunar cycle. Around the 30th, on the First Quarter Moon, we can expect a challenge to those goals, with appropriate adjustments made. At the time of the Full Moon on the November 6th, we can expect illumination on the success or failure of our goals for the cycle. If we succeeded, we can consciously release our success into our reality; if we failed, we let go of whatever did not work. After the Third Quarter Moon on the 14th, we can review our achievements, tie up loose ends and get ready to begin another New Moon on November 29th.

As noted yesterday, Scorpio is concerned with using knowledge to fulfill ambitions of power and control. It can build all the way to Heaven and all the way down to Hell. Scorpionic depths and heights apply especially in matters of sex, death and (other peoples’) money, a.k.a. energy, transformation and resources. Scorpio challenges us to face the nitty-gritty consequences of our basest instincts, fears and passions. Really, we simply can not look away.

In the horoscope for this New Moon, Venus is tightly conjunct the Sun and Moon, adding an intense idealism to the mix. Mars is at the Aries Point in righteous Sagittarius, suggesting prominent actions taken. Add in the potential for said actions to be over the top and/or bewildering, suggested by the continuing obsessive connection between Jupiter in Leo and Neptune in Pisces. Who is seeking his or her reward by lording it over whom? A rethinking of issues of fairness and balance is suggested for maximum growth potential; a reckless independence may prove destructive. And then of course, we have the never-ending, revolutionary Uranus-Pluto square, humming in the background. Never a dull moment in the cosmos these days…and thus never a dull moment in the headlines.

This New Moon occurs at 0 degrees of Scorpio. And given that this New Moon is also a solar eclipse, I’d also argue to anyone with 0 Scorpio prominent that if you’ve been resisting the pressure to release up until now, events will likely conspire to force the issue soon — all in the interest of personal growth, of course. This also applies to people with planets or angles around 0 Taurus, Leo and Aquarius — though it may be argued that the 0 Scorpio crowd is feeling it more intensely than the rest. If you’re one of those people and you’d like clues to what this eclipse might bring, look back to events that happened after October 23, 1995. What was released in the weeks after that?

The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is “a sight-seeing bus,” which immediately suggests a sense of going along for the ride — perhaps like the Magical Mystery Tour depicted in this super-groovy Beatles film released in 1967, the year after the Uranus-Pluto conjunction shook up the 1960s. Or maybe it’s just a plain old Magic Bus from 1965, courtesy of The Who. Which immediately made me think of Bus Stop by The Hollies….and I’m sharing it because that song was released in 1966 (and because it’s so sweetly romantic).

Sabian Symbol guru Blain Bovee has this to say: “Think of the qualities of character required for going along on a sight-seeing tour: natural openness and receptivity. There is a natural sense of beginning, middle, and end….on a sight-seeing bus, the destination is, at once, the points of interest along the way and the return to the point of departure.” Which leads me to the next musical interlude, also written in the late ’60s (released on an LP in early 1970),Deja Vu by Crosby Stills Nash & Young. We have all been here before.

Bovee also advises we consider the difference between “a singular, individualized way or being as opposed to going along with the crowd. Sometimes it’s better to watch through a tour bus window with a group of others; other times it’s better to flow freely on your own” There’s a meditation for you as we consider how to respond to the challenges of these interesting times.

Now about this solar eclipse…

Eclipses act as “bottlenecks” of energy. Light flowing from the Sun or Moon is temporarily interrupted, focusing attention on the interrupted point and allowing something new and possible fragile to enter the picture and grow. And here I would be thinking of Michael, the kindhearted policeman in the storybook Make Way for Ducklings, who stopped the flow of traffic on Beacon Street so Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their brood of eight could safely make their way to the Boston Public Garden.

Of course while traffic is stopped, it’s also backing up…and when it flows again, it’s possible that some drivers may hit the gas a little too hard — and wham! — there’s a sudden release of the bottlenecked energy. If you have a planet or point at the degree of an exceptionally potent eclipse, you may feel the effects of the release of the bottleneck for months afterward — sometimes even years. Examples: back in 2011 we had an eclipse at 11 Gemini. How fascinating that a release of heretofore bottled up information dramatically altered the fortunes of Rupert Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and (former) Congressman Anthony Weiner, who all have a major point or planet at 11 degrees of Virgo, Pisces, Gemini and/or Sagittarius. Might they have been feeling a bit “eclipsed”?

And now, the news.

This week’s planetary patterns have a focus on idealization, including the idealization of beauty. And there was Renee Zellweger, freaking everyone out with her brand new, presumably beautiful-in-an-ideal-way, face. Like…wow. Now she and Robin Wright can play sisters in a theater near you.

But seriously, as expected, Ms. Zellweger’s horoscope has been under considerable tension in the past 18 months. Her Venus at 10 Aries was supercharged by the Uranus-Pluto square, suggesting an unconventional, daring and intense social expression intended to be emancipating and empowering. Her Mercury, which rules her Virgo Ascendant (perfection is crucial to her personal projection), was heavily challenged at the beginning of this year by ambitious Saturn, and how fascinating that Saturn is making its third and final challenge in that series right now. Also of interest: her Leo Moon, which needs needs needs to be loved and adored, is at 17 degrees of Leo and her righteous Mars in Sagittarius is at 16 degrees. So her horoscope is reflecting the potential of this months Fire Grand Trine among Mars, Jupiter and Uranus. Remember I said those with planets or angles around 17-18 degrees of just about any sign would be hot this month?

With her Uranus at the Aries Point, we’d expect Ms. Zellweger to be known for a radical independence. Other measurements suggests she needs to be a law unto herself. It will be interesting to see what happens for her in 2015-2017, when nebulous Neptune makes contact with all of the angles of her horoscope. On the one hand there is the potential for great success in the arts and matters or spirit and charity. On the other hand, there is huge potential for what astrologer Noel Tyl calls “an ego wipe-out” i.e., bewilderment about one’s place in the world and/or one’s sense of self. I’ll wager a romantic relationship or spiritual guru may well be part of it.

Mercury retrogrades are excellent times to REview your life with an astrologer. Right now I’m offering a little incentive for new clients. Here’s the 411 on personal consultations.